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As 2012 approaches, the number of overweight Americans is
reaching staggering proportions. As many as 34% of American
adults are obese while another 34% are considered overweight. For
those Americans who are considered normal weight, over 50% are
estimated to carry an unhealthy amount of body fat, which is
clinically referred to as "normal weight obesity" or colloquially
as "skinny fat". Adding up all the numbers, at least 84% of
American adults have what is considered an unhealthy level of
body fat.

How are Americans responding to their weight?

The answer to this questions may be found by analyzing Google's
search data. Each month, there are an estimated 88 billion Google
searches, of which millions relate specifically to losing weight.
By understanding how Americans seek out information about
fitness, we can glean insights into how Americans approach their
health and well-being.

For the keyword "How To Lose Weight", the chart below
shows the U.S. search volume for the top 10 related keywords:

Do you notice anything unusual? More than 50% of the keywords (6
out of 10) refer to losing weight "fast" or "quick". On a
positive note, 110K searches for "how to lose weight healthy"
indicates many Americans are not searching for that quick fix,
but a more sustainable, healthier weight loss method. For the
keyword "weight loss", the chart below shows the U.S. search
volume for the top 10 related keywords:

Like in the previous chart, more than 50% of the keywords (6 out
of 10) use the word "fast" or "quick", or relate to losing weight
quickly.

Weight loss success is difficult to achieve because it requires
changing deeply ingrained lifestyle habits. Crash dieters and
yo-yo exercisers are willing to make drastic, yet temporary
changes in their lifestyle habits for short term weight loss. For
example, some people follow the celery diet, which requires
eating only celery and drinking water while spending countless
hours each day doing cardio. Aside from the health implications
of extreme dieting, short term weight loss "success" may actually
be failure in disguise. Losing weight too quickly is undesirable
because any weight loss will likely be comprised of water,
muscle, and some fat. Because muscle is lost, metabolism will
drop. When and if the weight is gained back, the dieter will now
have more body fat and a slower metabolism then when he or she
started the crash diet, setting off a vicious cycle.

While "fast" or "quick" results may be desirable in the short
term, in the long term, sustainable diet and exercise
modification leads to lasting weight loss and improved health.
For more information on obesity in the U.S., check out U.S. Obesity Trends: Facts & Stats.

For information on how to make healthy lifestyle changes, visit
BuiltLean.com.